"He's in better shape than anybody in this room," Dombrowski told the gathering of reporters Monday afternoon in his hotel suite at the Hilton Anatole, site of this week's Winter Meetings. "And I don't think I'll say much more."

His reticence seemingly indicated plenty about the level of the Tigers' interest.

"I'm not going to tip my hat one iota on what I think about him," Dombrowski said. "I don't think that's a prudent thing to do, because I think it's much more emphasized when I say that from a national perspective. Other than he has a tremendous body and he does a lot of things well, I don't really want to say much about him. ... No offense. I don't see other GMs out there talking about him, either. I just don't think it's a smart thing to do."

The Tigers are believed to be among the more intrigued teams about Cespedes, whom Dombrowski believes could be posted for free agency soon, possibly within the week. He was a star in his native Cuba before defecting earlier this year and taking up residency in the Dominican Republic, where he has been working out for teams for the past month.

At least four top Tigers officials, including Dombrowski, are believed to have watched Cespedes at some point over that stretch.